Ever since a man watched a bird the ultimate dream of flight has been to fly using human muscles alone. The first was Icarus, of Greek myth. Daedalus and his son Icarus were imprisoned in the Minotaur's labyrinth by King Minos.Daedalus designed wings for himself and his son using wax to attach feathers to their arms. During their otherwise successful escape Icarus became drunk with the thrill of flight and flew too high. The sun melted his wings and he plunged to his doom. His distraught father flew on to Naples, but he never flew again.

The Wright's success at Kitty Hawk and the subsequent boom in aviation revived interest in the Icarus myth, and in1933 a German group offered 5,000 marks for the first human-powered airplane that could fly around two markers 500 meters apart. Similar prizes were offered in Italy and Russia, but the technology of the day was not up to the task, and the prizes went unclaimed.

The real problem is simply power. Even the lightest ultralights or powered hang gliders typically used engines developin a minimum of 10 HP, whereas a trained athlete can only output about 0.4HP for an extended period. New structures and new technologies were needed to build the large but incredibly light machines that would make human-powered flight a reality.

In 1959 the British industrialist Henry Kremer offered £5,000 for the first human-powered aircraft that could fly a figure eight around two markers four fifths of a kilometer apart. (The same performance level as the early Wright Flyers). This prize became a great stimulus for research into human-powered flight, although18 years passed before it was finally claimed. There are still many other Kremer Prizes on offer for various human-powered targets.

The first Kremer prize of $50,000 for a figure eight flight was claimed on 23rd August 1997 by Paul McReady, who designed and built the Gossamer Condor. McReady went on to claim the $100,000 Kremer prize for the first flight across the English Channel with the Gossamer Albatross. He is now involved in the development of solar=powered aircraft.

The most impressive flight achieved to date is that of the Daedalus project . On April 3, 1988, the Daedalus 88 a human powered airplane flew 115.11 km (71.53 miles) from Heraklion, Crete, to the island of Santorini. The RAVEN project intends to beat this by flying 100 miles, and although it is behind schedule it is still hoped that this goal will be achieved this year. As to whetehr or not we will ever be able to go out for a spin on our very own HPAs - well, better get down the gym!

For more information on and links to human powered aircraft sites, I recommend the Royal Aeronutical Society's Human Powered Aircraft Group site.